The nation's highest court has decided to consider lawsuit challenging birthright citizenship.
The top court has decided to review a landmark case that questions a historic guarantee: automatic citizenship for individuals born on American soil.
On his first day in office this January, the President issued an executive order aiming to end birthright citizenship, but the order was subsequently blocked by lower courts after lawsuits were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will overturn those rights entirely.
Next, the judges will set a time to hear oral arguments between the federal government and the suing parties, which involve foreign-born parents and their newborns.
The Legal Foundation
For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the principle that every person born in the United States is a citizen, with exceptions for children born to diplomats and members of occupying armies.
"Every individual born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The disputed directive sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States belongs to a group of about 30 countries – mostly in the North and South America – that provide immediate citizenship to any person born in their territory.
